Thorium
Hit Points: 40 per inch; Hardness: 25; Cost: x2, all weapons and armor are masterwork weapons and armor (see below); Weight: double standard (see below) Description This rare metal combines the weight of lead with the strength of steel. Orcs prize it for weapons because the extra weight allows a skilled user to strike with more force. Using a thorium weapon properly requires the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (thorium weapons) feat. A character wielding a thorium weapon with which he is proficient applies 1-1/2 times his Strength bonus, or double his Strength bonus if wielding a two-handed weapon, on damage rolls for melee attacks with the weapon. So, a hero with a +3 Strength modifi er has a +4 bonus on damage rolls when using a one-handed thorium weapon with which he is proficient and a +6 bonus when using a two-handed thorium weapon with which he is proficient. Thorium armor is amazingly heavy and strong — only adamantine pierces it with any degree of reliability. Armor made from thorium has a nonmagical +2 enhancement bonus to AC and provides damage reduction 3/adamantine if it is light armor, 6/adamantine if it is medium armor, and 9/admantine if it is heavy armor. (A thorium shield provides no special benefit.) Thorium armor is considered one category heavier than normal, to a maximum of heavy. (The damage reduction values given above apply to the armor before this adjustment — that is, a thorium chain shirt provides damage reduction 3/adamantine, even though it is medium armor). Thorium reduces the maximum Agility bonus for a piece of armor by –2 (to a minimum of +0); furthermore, both the armor check penalty and the arcane spell failure chance are doubled. An item made from thorium weighs twice as much as the same item made from other metals. In the case of weapons, this heavier weight does not change a weapon’s size category or the ease with which it can be wielded (whether it is light, one-handed or two-handed). Items not primarily of metal are not meaningfully affected by being partially made of thorium. (A bullet can be a thorium weapon, while a whip cannot be.) Weapons, armor and shields normally made of steel that are made of thorium have twice as many hit points as normal. Weapons or armors fashioned from thorium are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below. Though thorium armor is masterwork, the armor is so heavy and unwieldy that the masterwork quality does not reduce the armor check penalty — thorium armor must be masterwork to function as armor at all. Thorium can be smelted into Thorium ingots and bars. In addition to its inherent strength, Alchemists and Enchanters can further improve on Thorium to allow for the creation of more powerful items. Real World Thorium Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. It was discovered in 1828 by the Norwegian mineralogist Morten Thrane Esmark and identified by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius and named afterThor, the Norse god of thunder. Thorium produces a radioactive gas, radon-220, as one of its decay products. Secondary decay products of thorium include radium and actinium. In nature, virtually all thorium is found as thorium-232, which undergoes alpha decay with a half-life of about 14.05billion years. Other isotopes of thorium are short-lived intermediates in the decay chains of higher elements, and only found in trace amounts. Thorium is estimated to be about three to four times more abundant than uranium in the Earth's crust, and is chiefly refined from monazite sands as a by-product of extracting rare earth metals. Thorium was once commonly used as the light source in gas mantles and as an alloying material, but these applications have declined due to concerns about its radioactivity. Thorium is also used as an alloying element in nonconsumable TIG welding electrodes. Canada, China, Germany, India, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States have experimented with using thorium as a substitute nuclear fuel in nuclear reactors.[2] When compared to uranium, there is a growing interest in developing a thorium fuel cycle due to its greater safety benefits, absence of non-fertile isotopes and its higher occurrence and availability.[2] India's three stage nuclear power programme is possibly the most well known and well funded of such efforts. OGL Section 15 -- Copyright Notice ''World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game Copyright 2005, Blizzard Entertainment'' Category:World Category:Special Materials Category:Alchemy Category:Chymistry